


Crash into me

by FaiaHae



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: First Meetings, M/M, Pre-Canon, Pre-Relationship, Prompt Fill, Wrong radio frequency
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-01
Updated: 2019-04-01
Packaged: 2019-12-30 12:32:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18315332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FaiaHae/pseuds/FaiaHae
Summary: Indrid's not much for altruism, these days, but something about the voice on the radio is pulling at him.He can't just let Duck Newton die.





	Crash into me

Indrid was having a long night. 

 

He had to keep track of the bad timelines- the ones he would need to intervene in- even if they were the least likely to pass. The floor was covered in sketches, and the joints in his hand spasmed- he kept dropping his pen. Dammit. Dammit, Dammit-

 

The radio spluttered from white noise into words next to him, and he was hardly paying attention to the immediate futures- but a few relevant details bubbled up, scattering the visions. He practically growled, grabbing the radio off of the desk and cutting off the voice.

 

“You have the wrong frequency.”

 

_ “-I what?” _

 

Something tried to force its way through, and Indrid had to take an extra moment to gather the far future again, and so didn’t answer. The voice started again. 

 

_ “-I’m sorry I- I crashed the van! I crashed the van and I can’t get through to Juno because she’s so far out and I- I really fucked this one up proper, huh?” _

 

The voice sounds so miserable that Indrid’s grip slips, and the far future is replaced with the immediate. A man in a car, wrapped around a tree. Indrid witnesses futures in which he wanders into the woods and gets lost- falls into a ravine, runs into...worse things. Indrid sighs.

 

“What’s your coordinates?”

 

_ “I- uh-” _

 

“Nevermind. I’ll find them. Stay put.”

 

“ _ How will you know my-” _

 

Indrid turned off the radio, feeling vindicated for all of 3 seconds before he realized that he should  _ not have done that.  _ He gave into the impulse to rest his head on the desk for a moment, but resisted the future where he stayed there, and got up.

 

He had a ranger to rescue. 

 

__

 

True to his word, Duck was still in his car when Indrid pulled down the disused access road that led to the furthest ranger station still within Kepler’s jurisdiction. He stepped out, unsteady, and Indrid tried to push down the twist in his gut as he saw the blood streaming down his face from above his eyebrow. That was going to need stitches. 

 

Indrid was glad he hadn’t been focused on the immediate futures. He wouldn’t have wanted to see the one where the ranger hit the tree a little harder.

 

Duck.

  
Duck Newton.

 

He mentioned it in exactly 32.5% of the futures ahead, but in many of those, he passed out, and Indrid would like to  _ avoid that _ , if at all possible. He jammed the gearshift into park with a bit more force them was strictly speaking necessary and jumped out of the car, crossing over to Duck and taking his elbow to help him to the passenger side.

 

“-Who’re you?”

 

His voice was a bit slurred, and Indrid didn’t like  _ that.  _ The future was shifting in a blur as he intervened.

 

“It doesn’t matter. I’m here to help. Can you step up?”

 

Duck could, as it turned out, though it was a bit shaky, and Indrid needed to put his hands on Duck’s back to stop him from falling as he tried to get settled.

 

He was soft, and warm, and Indrid tried not to think about how long it’d been since he’d actually had....contact. Anything. Visions were no substitute. He took a deep, steadying breath, checked to make sure Duck was in the car, and shut the door. 

 

Indrid was practically vibrating with nerves as he got the car moving and turned back towards town. He didn’t want to talk- didn’t know how, didn’t remember how- but in 60% of the futures where he stayed quiet Duck passed out again, and that was probably Bad. Indrid didn’t want to look any further into the future then he had to, especially driving, but he seemed to recall humans not being much good at shrugging off head injuries. 

 

“-What happened, Duck?”

 

Indrid winced as he realized he shouldn’t know the name, but Duck squinted at him a moment, assessing and then dismissed it. 

 

“Hit a tree.”

 

“Yes. I meant....before that.” Indrid wondered if it would be more effective to chant prime numbers. Maybe it would confuse Duck enough to keep him awake and still dismiss the whole thing as a hallucination.

 

“-before that.” Duck frowned. “Sorry I. I’m not sure sure? I saw somethin’.”

 

Indrid realized with a jolt that he should have paid more attention to the future where the abomination got Duck. He pushed forward a bit, trying to keep the car steady as he peered a little further into the future, and-

 

And in the present, something dark and red-eyed appeared in his rearview mirror. 

 

Fuck.

 

“Duck.” Indrid tried to keep his tone steady. 

 

“Can you hold the handle next to the window for a moment and press back against the seat?”

 

Indrid didn’t get the chance to check if Duck complied, because the thing lunged, and he floored the gas pedal. For a sick, gut wrenching second, the car didn’t speed up, and the thing was in the air- and-

 

And it came down as the engine finally kicked in with a road, and Indrid had to hold on the wheel to stay in place in the seat as the force tried to throw him back. He needed to find-

 

Ah.

 

That could work.

 

“Hold on.”

 

“I’m holdin-”

 

Indrid yanked the steering wheel hard to the right, and winced as he heard Duck’s weight slam the door. 

 

“-wasn’t holding. I’m sorry.”

 

“You’re forgiven.” Indrid deadpanned, already focusing on the thing’s next move. He just had to make it 1000 more feet. 990. 980. 950-

 

The shadow moved again, and Indrid swerved, still counting down in his head, trying to focus on the road and the future and- 500- 400-

 

He floored it, mentally begging the car not to give up on him. 10% chance it didn’t make it. 15- 20-

He slammed on the brakes as the shotgun blast rang out, and the seatbelt activated with a snap as the car skidded to a halt. Indrid didn’t have to look over to know Duck had  _ certainly  _ passed out.

 

There was a siloutte behind his car, faintly glowing red in the rear lights (though that may have been his glasses), and he let himself have a moment of relief as he saw Madeline Cobb lift the shotgun to her shoulder and fire again into the creature’s head. It hissed, curling into itself- before it turned on its heel and fled.

 

Madeline swung the gun onto her shoulder and strolled up to his window with all the nonchalance of a police officer about to deliver a ticket. He rolled down his window as she lifted her hand to knock on it.

 

She didn’t look particularly surprised to see him.

 

“Cold. What brings you into my neck of the woods?”

 

Indrid pointed over his shoulder, and Madeline shone her flashlight into the car. She sighed.

  
“Do I want to know why Ranger Newton is unconscious in your car, Cold?”

 

“I went to recover him. He was going to die.” Indrid was surprised as he said the words to find that they were true.

 

“And why do you care? Is he important?”

 

Indrid winced, but as he opened his mouth to answer, he reached for the future on instinct- and-

 

And all the futures he’d seen in the trailer were gone.

 

They were replaced with Duck Newton, holding a sword, standing his ground against the dark with other forms by his sides. He couldn’t quite make them out yet, but they were there.

 

“Yes.” Indrid managed.

 

“Yes he is.”


End file.
